Page 2 of A Kingdom of Death & Darkness
The smirk grows larger against my lips.
But then... chilling laughter trickles around me. Their haunting amusement starts low and slow. Like a secret.
My steps halt. My gaze drifts slowly around the open nothingness. I can’t see five feet in front of me. But I definitely heard it.
“Seven?”
I turn fully, looking out and searching the smoke for him or the King... or anyone. It feels incredibly isolating now. It’s a crawling, scratching feeling across my skin. Because it may seem that I’m alone, but it doesn’t feel like it.
Someone’s here.
“Seven?” My voice shakes unintentionally, and I have to swallow down the sudden sensation of being watched.
I’m being ridiculous, I know. An entire fae army is just behind me somewhere. Of course, I don’t feel like I’m alone. The cast of my shadow before me is somehow distorted, the strange light from the burning forest only adding to the illusion that I’m alone. I glance behind me, looking for those I came with... to see the swirling smoke and nothing else.
“Thorn?” I say hesitantly. Normally, I wouldn’t call for the Fae King asshole, but... unease trickles down my spine. Something feels off. I take a step back, unsure what to do, when I hear it.
A soft scraping sound like that of someone dragging their feet.
“Seven?” I say, tense, peering through the smoke in hope of seeing the vampire I know.
One sound turns into many and then comes from every direction. I don’t know what it is, who it is, and I spin, searchingfor the source, hoping it’s just the army coming closer. But the army had a more uniform gait. This? This sounds chaotic.
“Seven?” I repeat louder, a little more frantic. Even I can hear the fear in my voice, and I hate it. I’m a badass bitch. I survived in the Vampire Court long enough to get here. There shouldn't be anything out in the Dark Lands that scares me.
But . . . it does.
This is a new unknown. I don’t know what’s coming through the smoke. I don’t know if it’s the Thorn King, Seven, the whole army, but my instincts tell me that this is wrong, that whatever is coming is bad.
Very bad.
The smoke swirls in front of me, and I narrow my eyes, trying to peer closer at whatever is moving. At first, all I can see is the haze swirling from whatever moves within. And then a leg appears, shambling forward with aching slowness. My eyes trail up from the leg as the...creature... steps fully forward. I get a good look at what it is and realize that there are indeed things in the Dark Lands that I should be afraid of.
“Seven!” I scream, my voice scraping with fear so loudly, it echoes out into the nothingness.
I hope they’re close enough to hear me, that they can maneuver within the smoky Dark Lands better than I can. I turn, prepared to run, only to realize there’s another creature behind me. Slowly, they break out of the smoke, closing in, and my heart seizes.
I thought vampires were the worst thing I had to worry about. Maybe the dark fae. But these things? They’re horrifying. Skin gray and rotting, eyes black as night... it feels like I’m in a horror movie as they amble toward me, their gaping maws clicking open and shut over and over again.
A flicker of movement appears at my side and I scream before I realize it’s Seven. Relief fills me, washing through mychest and calming the thrashing of my heart all at once. Oh. Oh, good. I’m safe now. But Seven’s expression is anything but relieved. In fact, there’s a hint of fear in his eyes that makes me rethink my own relief.
“What are these things?” I grunt, pressing against his side and refusing to leave him for a single second. He keeps his arms cautiously out in front of me, his lips peeled back in a warning of a snarl at the things closing in.
“The Dead,” he answers, like that’s not the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard, and then proceeds to lurch toward them, a blade in his hand I never saw him holding. The sleek fae metal gleams as he arcs it high above his head just to bring it down in one swift move.
I shriek as he cuts the first down, but there are so many. The thud of the first body barely hits the ground before another one is right there to take its place. We’re surrounded by an easy two dozen of the creatures, all ambling closer with a speed like death. I guess because they’re actually dead. I don’t know. I don’t know what these things are.
“Stay in the middle!” Seven shouts at me, and I try to do what he says even as he starts to swirl around the clearing, trying to cut them all down. The problem is, for every creature he drops, two more appear out of the smoke, until I’m not sure we’re going to make it out of this.
I shove at the arms that reach for me, wishing like hell I had a stolen fae sword of my own to try to do something with. Anything. Anything is better than the kicking and flailing I’m doing now.
Seven’s back hits mine, and he stumbles.
One of the creatures gets a hold of Seven, its jagged nails sinking into the hand he holds the blade with. Another one takes hold of me, and I stagger away before it can claim me for itself. I spot my mate and the creature, but they’re a tangle of thrashinglimbs and groans. Seven grips it loosely by the throat, but it’s just not a good hold. Rotting teeth bite down on the tanned flesh of his arm. His shout of agony grips my heart before he shoves the thing off of him and slams his blade through the creature’s skull. It drops immediately, but a stream of blood runs from the wound on Seven’s forearm. The moment the scent of blood tinges the air, the creatures go into a frenzy. Where they were slow and ambling before, they suddenly become fueled with hunger.
“Oh, fuck!” I scream, turning in a circle, looking for a way out of this. “Thorn!” I scream, hoping the Fae King can hear me. “Thorn! Please!” I’m desperate. I can feel it in every slamming beat of my heart, but the tremble of my tone is what truly gives me away.
Please help him. Please.
